ECOMAP is the term used for a USDA Forest Service initiative to map ecological units and encourage their use in ecosystem-based approaches to forest land conservation and management.

This is a collaborative effort with many partners. It is coordinated at the national and regional levels by USDA Forest Service staff and implemented in cooperation with State forestry agencies and others.

ECOMAP mapping criteria are outlined in the National Hierarchical Framework of Ecological Units. The framework systematically divides the country into progressively smaller areas of land and water that have similar physical and biological characteristics and ecological processes.

The Northeastern Area and the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters participate in ECOMAP in the following ways:

Provide technical assistance and program coordination.

Delineate and update ecological units using criteria of the National Hierarchy

Establish links between existing classification systems and the National Hierarchy